Broken Record
by MidnightCat99
Summary: Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes.  Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!
1. Broken Record

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note:** Fed up with all the one-shots I seem unable to finish, and inspired by WhiteInfinity21's "Dreams and Dreamers", I decided to write this series of…well, the stories are not exactly drabbles, since most are over 100 words. I guess you'd just call them "_very short_ stories." I'd love to hear what you think! (:

**Disclaimer:** Obviously, _Labyrinth_ does not belong to me.

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**#1: Broken Record**

**_L_**ike a dark dream it clings to my mind, breathing its icy breath on my thoughts.

I press my trembling hands to my ears, but that does nothing to impede the tune playing like a broken record in my head. It is a melody a golden music box played until I smashed the vexatious object into oblivion; a song a king once sang to me within a glass bubble, amid a crowd of vibrant, swirling dancers.

Against my conscious volition my white lips part to whisper lyrics I heard only once but I am nonetheless unable to forget. "I'll b-be there for you…as the world falls…_down_…"

My teeth sink into my tongue, bringing my song to a halt. Still, it continues to play in my mind: _I'll be there for you…as the world falls down…_

The _lies_!

Hugging my threadbare jacket to my body, I rise from the hard, frigid ground. My sneakers crunch on the blanket of shattered glass beneath my feet.

My world _has_ fallen down. So where is he?


	2. A Goblin Babe's Revenge

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note:** This one was inspired by my younger sibling's incessant crying. (:

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Labyrinth_. Happy?

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**#2: A Goblin Babe's Revenge**

_**T**_hunderous as a thousand pigs squealing in unison, the cries elicited a collective groan from the horde of goblins bustling about the room.

The din filled his ears; he was powerless to obstruct its entry. "Will…you…please…shut…_up_!" Jareth roared, the words leaping vehemently from his tongue.

Annoyed at this rude interruption of his tantrum, the newest addition to the goblin kingdom glared up at the exasperated monarch, turquoise eyes flashing.

As the infant emitted another shrill wail, the king lifted his gaze to the ceiling and muttered, "I should have just returned you to your ridiculous sister."

Behind him, the goblin babe grinned mischievously through his tears.


	3. Proper Usage of a Fork

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note:** This is a bit…silly…and probably clichéd as well. And I might have exaggerated the goblins' stupidity a little. This is my _attempt_ to be funny. Most likely it's an epic fail. _Not_ my best work. Oh well. Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! (:

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Labyrinth_. Never have, never will.

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**#3: Proper Usage of a Fork**

**_S_**able eyebrows lifting in amusement, Sarah watched her guests dig into their Thanksgiving feast. Or at least _try_ to.

"What's this?" a goblin with protuberant eyes and a minuscule nose asked, surveying a fork.

"That," Sarah replied, suppressing a burst of laughter, "is a _fork_."

"What's it for?" said another bewildered goblin.

"For eating."

"Eating?" echoed a third goblin, who promptly thrust the utensil in question into his distended mouth.

"Stop!" Sarah exclaimed. "You don't _eat_ the fork; you _use_ it to eat food. Like so." While fourteen pairs of eyes watched, she demonstrated the proper usage of a fork, inducing a chorus of _oohs_ and _aahs_. The congregation of goblins quickly set to emulating her example. After several minutes a grand total of two goblins had succeeded. The other dozen had managed to poke themselves in the eye, plunge the wrong end of the silver implement into their turkey, or fling the object at either the wall or a friend.

Chuckling, Sarah directed her gaze at a certain Goblin King. Cheeks flecked with pink, said potentate had his eyes fixed on his plate, evidently striving to affect an air of indifference regarding his subjects' lack of etiquette.

"Your Highness, haven't you taught your people table manners? Or even how to use a _fork_?" she teased, a smile dancing across her lips.

Raising his head, Jareth said irritatedly, "They are _unteachable_." He made a sweeping motion with one arm, taking in the wide table and its numerous occupants. "As you can see."

"Perhaps," Sarah answered placidly, nodding slightly. "But it looks like they might be catching on––"

"Sarah," the first goblin piped up again, grasping a spoon. "What's _this_?"

Sarah snickered; Jareth rolled his eyes. And a goblin yelped when he seized the serrated edge of a knife.


	4. Magic Carpet Ride

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note:** I wanted to write something romantic involving Jareth and Sarah…then I thought of _Aladdin_…and _this_ was the result. Don't laugh. (:

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Labyrinth_.

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**#4: Magic Carpet Ride**

_**"**_Do you trust me?"

I stare up at the tall, exotic man offering a black-gloved hand. _No!_ my heart cries, but my mouth says, "Yes." As I place my hand in his, a radiant smile stretches across his face, and he pulls me onto the rich polychromatic carpet. And suddenly we are in the air, flying.

"Is this thing safe?" I ask nervously, poking at the peach-scented fabric beneath my crossed legs.

"Entirely," he suavely assures me.

Ignoring the flicker of fear in my mind, I lean back into the arms of my king as we soar through the star-studded sky high above the Labyrinth, leaving the aroma of peaches in our wake.


	5. Peace Offering

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note:** I was staring at a pink candle on my armoire when I came up with the idea for this particular story. It's a bit…silly. (:

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Labyrinth_.

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**#5: Peace Offering**

_**E**_xactly when it had materialized she could not ascertain. Absentmindedly Sarah had glanced up from her novel, and it was just _there_, no overdramatic fanfare or cloud of azure glitter to announce its arrival. How odd.

Bemused, she rose from her unmade bed and scooped up the coral-colored candle sitting casually on her desk. Neither its weight nor its appearance were out of the ordinary. Sniffing it, she blinked in mild surprise. _Apples? How unlike Jareth. I would've thought it'd be peaches…_

Why had the Goblin King sent the candle? Was it some kind of peace offering intended to end their age-old feud? Smiling at that thought, Sarah placed the pink apple-scented object back on the desk, returned to her bed, and seized her book again. _Nice try, Jareth. Nice try._


	6. Sarah Burning

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note:** Wow, this turned out kind of dark and overdramatic. I always thought that if Sarah had accepted Jareth's offer in the Escher room, she would get the short end of the stick. Anyway, that's just my opinion. The title is a play on Shannon Hale's brilliant _Enna Burning_. (:

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Labyrinth_.

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**#6: Sarah Burning**

_**T**_ongues of fire lick her arms, searing her flesh.

Abruptly she throws her head up to meet his eyes across the room. She shudders at his triumphant countenance. Here she is, precisely where he wants her. Her stomach churns at her own impotence, her own inability to do nothing but stand here and _burn_.

"Sarah," he calls; she hears him as if from a great distance. "All you have to do is accept my offer. Fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will come to you. Surrender."

"_No." _Defiance shines in her emerald eyes even as her body blazes.

"Am I really asking that much?" he continues, ire touching his tone. "Do what you would not do all those years ago, and I will save you. Say the words _now_ or else"––his voice drops to a menacing murmur––"you will be lost."

The carmine flames reach the tips of her midnight black hair.

He holds out a hand to her, and the temptation to give in, to comply with his wishes, to end the agony, is nearly overpowering. _Do it…_

But then resolution shoots through her, and her scorched tresses fly with an impassioned shake of her head._ Never!_

She refuses to surrender; she'd rather be burned to a crisp than submit to his demands. For she knows that by agreeing to fear and love him, _she_ would be the one to end up a slave.


	7. Not Part of the Plan

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note:** Don't know where this idea came from. It was a bit random…like me. (:

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Labyrinth_.

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**#7: Not Part of the Plan**

_**T**_hrough a crystal sphere Jareth observes the small party led by that intractable girl marching determinedly toward his castle, the nonsensical dwarf bringing up the rear. Striving valiantly to ignore his rotund stomach's hunger pangs, said dwarf holds a heated debate with himself under his breath.

"Give it to her."

"No, _don't_ give it to her!"

"But Jareth said––"

"Oh, he'll never know if you don't!"

"Of course he will!"

"Will _not_––"

"Just _give_ it to her!"

Yet another groan from his stomach interrupts him, and his bulbous eyes dart toward the fuzzy round fruit in his pudgy hand.

This is definitely not part of Jareth's plan.

Common sense––if the witless creature ever even possessed such a thing––flees in the face of his hunger. Only after he eagerly sinks his teeth into the peach does his sanity return, but it's too late. His memory is wiped the next instant, and as helpful as sanity can be, it's not much use to a person when he can't remember who he himself is.

Five minutes later, an exasperated Goblin King watches as a baffled dwarf dressed in a decidedly bizarre ivory outfit wanders through a glass ballroom.

Meanwhile, the plucky dark-haired teenager and her trio of odd companions reach the castle beyond the goblin city unhindered.


	8. Sleeping Beauty

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **Initially, there was going to be a second part of this particular story, but then I got lazy and never wrote it. Maybe I'll write it…someday. We'll see. (:

**Disclaimer:** _Labyrinth_ doesn't in any way belong to me. Must you rub it in?

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**#8: Sleeping Beauty**

_**A**_t Sarah's feet, a minuscule green worm crawled out of a half-eaten peach. The girl no doubt would have shuddered in revulsion at the sight. If she weren't lost in an enchanted slumber, that is.

Fiddling with the plastic baubles dangling from his belt, Hoggle stared despondently at his sleeping friend. The steady rise and fall of her chest served as the sole indication of the continuance of life within her otherwise motionless body.

"Aw, Sarah," he mumbled, his guttural voice barely above a whisper. He'd heard the fairy tale; he knew what had to be done. Stepping tentatively forward, he crouched over her, his face a heartbeat away from hers. He gulped, shut his eyes, and puckered up.

And ended up pressing his lips to the ground. Nostrils filling with the ineffable stink that could only belong to the Bog of Eternal Stench, he disgustedly spat out dirt. His eyes amber eyes flew open. Sarah was nowhere to be seen.

A scowl contorting his features, Hoggle glared at his repulsive surroundings. "Jareth," the dwarf muttered crossly as he pinched his nose and set off in search of Sir Didymus.


	9. Unsaid

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary: **Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note:** If this one sounds a bit…idk, sloppy, confusing, or just plain _weird_ (well, more so than usual), it's probably because I wrote it rather quickly and late at night, about the time when my brain begins to stop functioning properly (wow, look at how awkward that sentence is). Plus, I spent _very_ little time editing it. That's unusual for me; I'm obsessive about perfecting my work (trying, at least) before publishing it. (:

**Disclaimer:** Never have owned _Labyrinth_, never will.

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**#9: Unsaid**

_**S**_ome things are better left unsaid. Some words ought to be restrained rather than released. Some utterances should be kept in the mind, in the heart, pretty much _anywhere _but out in the world for everyone to hear.

Telling your date that her scarlet gown makes her look like a corpulent firecracker, for instance, is definitely a statement better kept to yourself.

Boldly announcing your intentions to rob a bank before you perpetrate the felony also qualifies as a major no-no.

And informing a certain Goblin King that you adore him and that he holds an unspeakable power over you, when your brother's very life is in danger? It's safe to say that that just might be the most asinine thing you could say. _Ever_. Such words are the epitome of things better left unspoken.

That's why, as she stood facing her greatest enemy––and her greatest love––Sarah held her tongue, prevented those lethal words from escaping. She couldn't tell him, not here, not now. No matter how it broke her heart, she couldn't say the words.

So when her mouth did open, it was to declare in a trembling voice that he had _no _power over her. Seeing the despair flare in his eyes, she bit down on her tongue till she tasted blood. She _couldn't_ tell him the truth. Why did she have to keep reiterating that fact to herself?

Jareth's arm flung itself up as if of its own accord, and the crystal in his hand flew into the air, transforming into a bubble that burst upon contact with Sarah's outstretched hand. In the distance, a clock struck the thirteenth hour. Her emerald eyes closed to stop the hot tears pressing against her eyelids; when they shot open again, she was home. The familiar walls and ceiling of her two-story house were like the first glimpse of land after weeks at sea. Startling, welcome, dreaded.

Above her head a barn owl hovered. At the sight, Sarah's lips parted again as if to emit the words she could not say: _I love you. You _do _have power over me. You always have, Jareth, and I think…I think you always will._

But even if she had the breath or strength left in her to utter them, the words wouldn't, _couldn't_ come. They burned the back of her throat, yearning to leap off her tongue. But she would not allow them to do so. The time was wrong. Maybe someday she would finally say them, but certainly not today.

_Some things are better left unsaid…things like this_, she reminded herself firmly before turning to rush up the stairs, away from the owl and the words that had to remain unspoken…for _now_…


	10. A Dream of a Dream

**Title: **Broken Record

**Author:** MidnightCat99

**Summary:** Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating:** K+

**Author's Note: **Now here's a silly little story that's been sitting in a folder on my laptop for at least…a month. This one was inspired by a line from the end of the first Narnia movie. Novel-based! Notice the Snow White reference in the first paragraph? Hehe. Not that I'm comparing Jareth to the disney princess or anything… Warning: this is extremely fluffy.

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Labyrinth

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**#10: A Dream of a Dream**

_**H**_e stood before her, hair flecked with brown, skin as white as snow, eyes as startling as a splash of frigid water on a torrid day. Gazing into those so very peculiar eyes, Sarah couldn't help the feeling of familiarity rising within her.

Somehow, though she felt certain that the man leaning cockily against the wall opposite her was a stranger, she knew she must have encountered him before. Paradoxical much?

Everything about him was foreign yet perplexingly familiar: the smug half-smile tugging at his oddly glossy lips (since when did guys wear make-up?), the fair hair projecting from his head like wild rays of light, the self-importance he exuded.

So familiar…and unfamiliar.

It was like a dream. Or a dream of a dream.

_Whoa. Déjà vu._

"Um…hi," Sarah said, all too aware of the crimson blush creeping up her neck to stain her cheeks.

The man cocked his blond head to one side, a glint of some unfathomable emotion in his eyes. She had the irksome feeling that he was laughing at her. Internally maybe, but laughing nonetheless.

"Um…" She mentally berated herself for her inability to speak in anything other than monosyllables. Smothering a vexed moan, she tried again. "Do I…know you?"

"We may have met once or twice in the past," he replied enigmatically.

"But when? Where? Who _are_ you?"

His eyebrows arched elegantly, and his pointed teeth flashed in the dim light. "Don't you know?"

Those three words echoed within her head, throwing themselves around chaotically inside her mind, colliding at random with her multitudinous thoughts and memories. She could have screamed at herself for her own stupidity, her own inability to remember. _Don't you know?_

Don't _I know?_

And suddenly she did.

Her mind flooded with memories. The shock of remembering so much all at once was comparable to getting hit with a hammer. In the face. _Twice_. She felt as if she were drowning in memories of another world, of old friends…and enemies. Enemies? Was _he_ an enemy? _Still_? Chewing her lip, she studied his face. Was he? No, not anymore. Maybe he was an enemy years ago, but not now; the way his eyes were fixed on her was proof enough of that.

_"Jareth."_

Immediately pushing away from the wall he'd been leaning against, the Goblin King closed the distance between them and held one hand out to her, face alight with triumph. Brow corrugating in a frown of puzzlement, Sarah stared at the outstretched appendage. It was a rather queer sight after all; the only time that hand had been extended in her direction, it had held a decidedly bothersome crystal ball. Now it was empty. Something about that seemed wrong. Manifestly wrong.

Before common sense could kick in, she ended the Empty Hand Problem by placing her own hand in his. The contact instigated an explosion of icy shivers that started in her fingers and raced outward to the rest of her body.

"Remember now?" Jareth asked softly.

In response Sarah laced her hands through his hair and pressed her lips to his. Pulling away just as quickly as she had leaned in, she looked up at him through her raven lashes. Jareth blinked at her boldness, and she laughed, feeling the knots of tension inside her untangling. "Now, none of that "let me rule you" crap. I'll stay with you in your Labyrinth this time, but there's no way you're ruling me, _Your Highness_. Capish?"

Squeezing her fingers tightly and transporting them to the Underground with the wave of one hand, he said, "Whatever you wish. But you may change your mind in time. You'll find that I can be quite persuasive when I want to be."

Sarah offered him a smirk. "We'll see about that."


	11. The Dilemma

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author:** MidnightCat99

**Summary:** Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating:** K+

**Author's Note: **This is the result of an overexposure to _Labyrinth_ fan fiction, procrastination, and large quantities of sugar.

**Disclaimer:** _Labyrinth_ belongs to the Jim Henson Company, not me.

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**#11: The Dilemma**

_**B**_eing pushed into matrimony with her archenemy wasn't the worst thing to happen to her that day, Sarah decided as she entered her new room in the infamous castle beyond the Goblin City.

"There's only one bed!" she groused, an air of irritation masking the panic in her voice.

"What did you expect?" Jareth asked, amused.

She glowered at him, all too aware that he was enjoying their present situation a lot more than she was. "_Two_ beds."

"It's safe to say that this leaves us with a single possible course of action."

She nodded. "Yep. You'll have to sleep on the floor."

Disgust chased across the egotistical potentate's face at that remark, as if the very idea of his royal body touching the ground struck him as repulsive. Sarah watched the curious display of emotion with overt amusement. "_Or_ we could share the bed," Jareth suggested.

"Not happening."

"Sarah, married couples tend to sleep in the same bed."

"Well, what if one of that couple never wanted to wed the other person in the first place? What if she was _forced_?"

"It's called an 'arranged marriage,' and it happens all the time."

"Maybe hundreds of years ago it did, but nowadays people have the right to decide who they marry." She sniffed, her emerald eyes flashing. "As an American citizen I have that right!"

"We aren't _in_ America; we're in the Underground, where arranged marriages are perfectly legal. And binding. Accept it, love. Whether you like or not, it's a fact that you and I are married. Just like it's a fact that I am _not_ sleeping anywhere near the floor."

Her clenched hands shook as she fought the impulse to leap across the room and kick His Royal Highness's sorry behind to the moon. "_Fine_," she snarled through gritted teeth. "Even if we _are_ married, there's no law compelling me to sleep within ten feet of you. So, I'll say it again: You sleep on the floor." She threw a glance emphatically in that direction.

His hands flew to his hips and his lips set in a determined line. "When goblins fly."

"That could be arranged."

A thick silence fell over the room, the "blissfully" wedded couple holding each other's gaze, neither willing to back down, neither about to comply with the other's wishes.

Sarah crossed her arms, tossing her ebony curls defiantly. "Well, if _I_ won't share the bed with you (like I _shouldn_'t have to), and _you_ won't sleep on the floor (like you _should_), then we'll have to come up with a different arrangement."

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_**F**_ifteen minutes later, an especially pissed young woman lay on the ground, pulling a glitter-caked sleeping bag up to her chin and grumbling about self-absorbed, puffy-haired, too-persuasive-for-their-own-good monarchs. From the nearby bed, one such king listened to his bride's quiet diatribe with a low chuckle. By his reckoning, it wouldn't be long before this too-persuasive-for-his-own-good monarch managed to coax his Champion turned reluctant wife into swallowing her pride and slumbering in their bed, where she belonged. Her rightful place was by his side, after all; no use denying that fact. Though Sarah could try. For now anyway.

"You can stay there for the time being, love, but you may change your mind when you realize how cold nights in the Underground can be."

Sarah's head snapped up to shoot him a glare. "As if! And don't call me 'love'!"

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**Author's Note:** Okaayy…that was embarrassingly corny and fluffy. Hehe. I just had to get it out of my system. By the way, I should be posting the next chapter of "The Owl King" by tomorrow. Thanks for reading! (=


	12. The Game

**Title:** Broken Record

**Author: **MidnightCat99

**Summary:** Inadvertent consequences, forgotten dreams, inerasable memories, unspoken regrets. A series of 13 vignettes. Not as melodramatic as it may sound, I promise!

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **Partially inspired by foreverenchanted21's "Jareth/Sarah-Love Song Requiem" YouTube video (which, by the way, you HAVE to watch; in my opinion, it's seriously one of the best _Labyrinth_ vids). Initially, I wrote this vignette in present tense, but at the last minute I changed it to past tense, so things might sound sort of…funny. Plus, it's been a while since I've written anything (besides essays) in past tense. Okay, I'll stop rambling now. Hope you like it. :P

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Labyrinth_.

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**#12: The Game**

_**H**_e was not surprised to hear her call. There had been something in her eyes when he'd watched her in the park today––a kind of frustration verging on wrath––that had hinted at what was to come. Nor was he surprised when, as the consequences of her call become apparent, she panicked, cried, feared. She was only manifesting the typical reaction of a mortal who wishes away another of its kind.

He was slightly surprised, however, when she defied him and refused the crystal dancing across his ebony-clad fingertips. But only _slightly_. After all, there _had_ been others in the past to accept the challenge of winning back the wished-away.

But it was not until that last moment on the hill overlooking his Labyrinth that he was truly surprised.

In that moment, as he gazed into those cruel emerald eyes and she gazed resolutely back, he saw his feelings for what they really were. And he realized that this silly mortal's brazen affirmation regarding the Goblin King's love for her wasn't as wide of the mark as he'd initially thought. No, not at all.

He saw his future, his fate, his downfall. And _she_ would be the cause of it all. These feelings…this _love_ would take all that he was, his everything. It would drive him to recklessness, join despair to him like an appendage, bring him to his knees, scar him like nothing else ever could.

And yet, he was not afraid. Yes, he would love and in return receive nothing but defiance. Yes, he would fall, fall so far and so hard that he might forever be lost to the shadowy depths of anguish. But it would be the adventure of his immortal lifetime, and it would be worth it, worth each crack in his ancient heart, worth every tear that fell when night descended and there was no one there to see, worth each scalding rebuff that flew off her tongue. Yes, it would be worth it all…as long as he could hold her in his arms for a minute, one minute where time froze and there was only them, he and his spitfire mortal girl. And that minute _would_ come; he knew that just as he knew that it would leave, just as he knew that it would tear him apart.

But in that moment, as she turned away from him, her mind already on the impossible task set before her, he decided that if nothing else, his inevitable defeat and heartbreak would be worth the hours to come and the thrill of the game.

And as he stepped back, fading into the air like a vapor in the wind, a small smile ghosted across his lips.

_Let the game commence._

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**Author's Note: **Hmm…that turned out a bit…odd. Who's to say the all-powerful Goblin King didn't see Sarah's rejection and his defeat coming? Kind of a silly idea, I know, but maybe it's a somewhat newish take on things… Hmm. What do _you_ think? Review? Pretty please?

Not sure when I'll update "The Owl King". Chapter 5 is _mostly_ written out, but I keep getting distracted…and then there's schoolwork…


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